Today, October 23rd 2024, the Office for National Statistics has released data tables and analysis on life expectancy in England and Wales for 2021 to 2023.
The bulletin describes trends in period life expectancy, a measure of the average number of years people will live beyond their current age, analysed by age and sex for England and Wales.
The bulletin explores life expectancy at birth, at older ages, and changes over time.
Main points
- LE at birth was 79.0 years for males and 83.0 years for females in England and Wales in 2021 to 2023.
- LE at birth increased by 13 weeks from 78.8 years for males and 11 weeks from 82.8 years for females, compared with 2020 to 2022, the most recent overlapping period.
- LE at birth is 26 weeks lower for males and 13 weeks lower for females, compared with 2017 to 2019, the last complete period before the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
- While improvements in life expectancy have been slow for over a decade, the pandemic led to increased mortality in recent years; the impact of this is seen in lower period life expectancy estimates between 2018 to 2020 and 2021 to 2023.
- A fall in period life expectancy does not mean that a baby born in 2021 to 2023 will go on to live a shorter life; average lifespan is determined by changes in mortality rates across their lifetime, and if mortality rates improve, period life expectancy will go back up.
- These statistics are for England and Wales only. Figures for the UK will be published when the data are available.
Life Expectancy at Birth
LE in England and Wales has generally been increasing over the last 40 years. These improvements have been primarily caused by reductions in mortality at older ages, because of advances in health care and improvements in living and working conditions.
Since about 2011, the rate of increase in LE has slowed. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to increased mortality, particularly at older ages, in recent years. This has affected the LE estimates for 2021 to 2023.
In 2021 to 2023, LE at birth in England and Wales was 79.0 years for males and 83.0 years for females.
This is 26 weeks lower for males (79.5 years) and 13 weeks lower for females (83.2 years), compared with 2017 to 2019, before the pandemic. In 2017 to 2019, LE at birth in England and Wales reached its highest level in the data series.
LE in 2021 to 2023 is eight weeks lower for males (79.2 years of age) and one week lower for females (83.0 years of age), compared with 2018 to 2020. This period includes two years of mortality data before the pandemic.
However, compared with 2020 to 2022, the latest estimate of LE is 13 weeks higher for males (78.8 years) and 11 weeks higher for females (82.8 years). Mortality in this period was heavily affected by the pandemic.
Looking at England and Wales separately, life expectancy at birth in 2021 to 2023 was:
- 79.1 years for males and 83.0 years for females in England
- 78.1 years for males and 82.0 years for females in Wales
We saw consistent improvements in period LE for females and even stronger improvements for males in the first decade of this century. Improvements for males in England were consistently above 40 weeks and occasionally, were as much as one year, when comparing one three-year period with the previous non-overlapping period (for example, 2010 to 2012, compared with 2007 to 2009). We have still seen improvements since 2011, though the rate of these have slowed.
A fall in period life expectancy does not mean that a baby born in 2021 to 2023 will go on to live a shorter life. Average lifespan is determined by changes in mortality rates across their lifetime; if mortality rates improve, period life expectancy will go back up.
Life Expectancy at Older Ages
Improvements in LE, or expected years of life remaining, at 65 years have also slowed over the last decade. Life expectancy at 65 years was 18.6 years for males and 21.1 years for females in 2021 to 2023 in England and Wales.
This is five weeks higher than in 2018 to 2020, when LE at 65 years was 18.5 years for males and 21.0 years for females. However, life expectancy at 65 years remains below pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic levels of 18.8 years for males and 21.2 years for females in 2017 to 2019.
Life expectancy at 90 years in England and Wales was 3.9 years for males and 4.6 years for females in 2021 to 2023. Life expectancy at 90 years fluctuates slightly each year. Improvements in life expectancy at 90 years have been low for several years. However, previous improvements in mortality over many decades and a historical peak in the number of births notably around 1920 to 1921 have resulted in more people reaching the very oldest ages in recent years.
Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 23 October 2024, ONS website, National life tables – life expectancy in England and Wales: 2021 to 2023.
